‘I am?’ she asked, sounding surprised.

‘Yes,’ I said, brushing dust off my jeans. ‘Of course, you are. I owe you an apology.’

‘That’s funny,’ she smiled. ‘That’s exactly what I was going to say to you.’

‘You were?’

I knew what I was sorry about, but she had nothing to apologise for.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t have called Ned after I heard you talking in the pub. I’m sorry I did that.’

‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘I’m sorry, Maya. I’m sorry I said something that made you feel bad, but I promise you, we weren’t being mean. Far from it in fact. I was actually telling the others that I think you’re perfect. Little Miss Perfect might have sounded like an insult, but it wasn’t meant that way.’

‘You really think I’m perfect?’ Maya asked, her beautiful eyes widening and her cheeks flushing prettily.

There was absolutely no false modesty attached to her question and I realised that what you saw was very definitely not what you got where Maya was concerned. She might have looked catwalk-ready, but she didn’t have the confidence to strut down it.

‘Well, yeah,’ I said, as if it should have been obvious. ‘Have you seen you, Maya?’

Her cheeks burned brighter but she didn’t say anything.

‘You’ve got brains and beauty,’ I told her. ‘Not forgetting six-foot long legs that I’d kill for and you’re lovely too. Now I think about it,’ I added, ‘I should hate you really.’

She laughed at that, but then looked sad.

‘If I’m as perfect as you seem to think I am,’ she quietly said, ‘then how come I’m not inundated with admirers? I haven’t had a date in forever.’

My guess was that the guys who wanted to ask her out were probably a bit intimidated by her looks, but if they found the courage to have a conversation with her, then they’d soon realise what a pussycat she was. Not that I was going to tell her that, because my plan was to get her and Ned together!

‘Oh, I shouldn’t worry,’ I told her. ‘I think that situation’s going to change soon.’

‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ she sighed. ‘I think that was why I went and told Ned that I’d heard you talking about me. I thought he might feel sorry for me and pay me a bit more attention.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘if it makes you feel any better, he was quick to jump to your defence.’

‘He was?’

‘I hadn’t even got in the door before he was demanding to know what I’d been saying.’

Maya brightened considerably after that and told me she’d got a few missed calls from him, and Abbie, registered on her phone when she’d turned it back on.